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"Bees still seem to drown in feeders no matter what I do. If you do this be sure to have enough buckets that they don't pile up in the bottom trying to feed. I lose a lot less bees with more buckets than with less buckets. If there are other apiaries nearby open feeding may not be practical."

&gt;I, too, am intrigued by this use of a pail o' vittles. When feeding by this method, where should one place the pail in relationship to the hive(s)?

I think 100 yards would be about perfect. But between the grandkids play area, the horses, and the other people and trafiic at my place that doesn't seem to work, so they are about 25 or 30 yards away from the edge of the beeyard.

Of course there is another kind of "pail feeder" which is the smaller ones with plastic lids and holes in the lid over the top of the hive. I haven't done it. Seems like the lids often leak and I haven't mastered how to prevent that.

i tried floats, sticks ,you name it .got rid of the pails & got those plastic dish pans. filled them up with pine straw. filled them wirh a gal of so of suger water very few bee drown.they are able to work their way all the way down

I cut some 1/4-inch mesh to fit into the "tray"
portion of the chick feeders just above the
liquid level. This way, the bees can stay on
the mesh, and stick their heads down to get at
the feed. Cutting the mesh slightly larger
allows it to grip the sides in a nice "friction
fit".

If a bee falls in, she can pull herself out.

That said, the chick feeders must be very very
level to keep the feed from running off the
edge of the tray. I use them for bee-lining
and other "experimental" purposes, but they
are a pain in the posterior for feeding bees
in the hive. Sure I "leveled" my hives, but
I like them to slant forward slightly, and not
all my yards are anywhere near "level land".

If you want a float, build one from mesh with
Styrofoam "pontoons", and play with it in a
sink until you get the correct buoyancy so that
the mesh is just at the waterline. You don't
want wooden floats, as they would get waterlogged,
and sink lower over time.

I have used the cheap ($1 on sale) plastic storage totes that you can get at Wal-Mart or Big Lots. The ones I used held about a gallon of syrup, but bigger ones are available. I just take the lid that comes with it and cut the lip off all the way around so that when you float the lid on top of the syrup, only about 1/4 inch of syrup is exposed all the way around the tote. I put it about 100 feet from my hives. Not sure if it was necessary, but I drizzled a little honey on top of the lid to help them find it. It still took about 3 hours for the first bees to show up but within the next hour it was very busy. In a day or two, they drained it dry (I have 3 hives). But there were no drowned bees and almost no fighting. I may also try drilling a few 1/4 inch holes in the top for more access.

Someone else on this forum used these totes in a hivetop configuration (over the hole in the inner cover) by drilling a hole in the bottom of the tote, inserting a 1-1/4" (OD)plastic pipe nipple and securing it with plastic nuts on both sides and sealing it with beeswax. Some screen mesh was fashioned into a cylinder with a cap and placed over the nipple. The bees then can crawl up through the nipple, down the screen and access the syrup. It also helps keep the bees from drowning and will allow you to fill the tote without having to face any bees. You can fill it all the way to the top of the nipple. But it also will provide a chimney for top ventilation that most other hive top feeders don't have. I plan to try it this year.

This plastic tote over the tope of the hive sounds like a good idea. I wonder if you can get a tote that fits the size of the hive body closely? One more thing is the wind/critters. I guess you can not put too much weight on the tote to secure it down to the hive.

The gallon size I had would easily fit under an empty shallow super. Larger ones I'm sure would fit under an empty hive body. That and a top cover (weighted down) should be sufficient, but then I've never had to deal with gale force winds or mischievous wildlife looking for a snack.

One way to keep your bee's from drowning is to use the same stuff that is used in butterfly feeders. It reminds me of a plastic scouring pad that you find in the kitchen. It's an open mesh weave plastic material that comes in different colors.
I'm sure you've all seen them. Anyway, if you were to go to your local fabrics store, you could probably buy the stuff in sheets. Just cut some strips and place it in the syrup. The bees will walk on it and should be able to drink up the syrup though the plastic mesh without drowning. If and when it gets skunky,just toss it out and put a new strip in.